Space 157

On August 26 we had our first open studio at Space 157 as well as a group show next door at the Loading Dock Gallery. Here are some glimpses:


Work in progress by Christopher Doehling


Jon & Jess area


The Illustration Department


Carlee & Jessie


Some professors came too.


Mike Gentry's space


Nicki Verechia's space

Mike brought the best wine.


Tunes.


Our Group Exhibition at the Loading Dock Gallery

images © Jay Grant

A Beginning

Our building circa 1945
Rock Hill National Bank, 1970s

Friday Arts Project started 4 years ago now, at the start Winthrop University's school year in 2006. It began as a group of creative students gathering to work together and journey through questions that might have consequential answers. Who am I? What do I believe? What am I going to do about it?

We have brought to each other our work, our critique, our experiences and our encouragement. We have traveled together, we've collaborated and we have dreamed.

Over a year ago, we started working toward fleshing out our group mission statement more fully. Especially the piece that says "We provide a forum for dialogue enabling artists to inspire, engage, and create toward the renewal of hearts and culture." Ideas for a studio and gathering space began to formulate.

After so many dead-end meetings and looking at so many spaces that were just out of our reach, we finally found the perfect place and people willing to make it happen.

This week eight artists move into what we're calling Space 157, an eighty-year-old former bank building on East Main Street in Old Town Rock Hill, SC. We have 3,000 sun-filled square feet above a restaurant, right at the canopy line of the sidewalk trees. We're located in the middle of a growing arts scene, with the Community Performance Center, Gallery Up, the Gettys Art Center and the Center for the Arts all a short walk from us. We also have views of Winthrop University, the historic Textile Corridor, the City Hall Rotunda dome, and the rest of downtown.

There is plenty for us to do before we're completely settled in. We have furniture to find, floors to clean and a darkroom to build. And we are so excited to get started.

Women Who Go Beyond

Photographs © Zan Maddox

This month we partnered with ONE to bring Women Who Go Beyond: Success Stories from Africa to our Basement Gallery at the Gettys Art Center in Rock Hill.

This exhibition featured photographs by Morgana Wingard of women who have been empowered to help bring their communities out of poverty and transform the lives of those around them.

You can view a selection of the photographs here.

Countenance One

Each Monday night, a small group of friends meets to share a bottle of wine, conversation, and the attempt to capture something of the person seated before us. We have found great value, artistically and otherwise, in the ritual of meeting weekly to draw a face. On March 11 we present the first collection of drawings we have made during our two-hour sessions together.

The exhibition, Countenance One, opens at the Gettys Art Center Basement Gallery in Old Town Rock Hill, SC.

Featuring work by:

Stephen Crotts

Christopher Doehling

Lucy Elliott

Jon Jennings

Carlee Lingerfelt

Rachel McAndrews

Brandon Oxendine

Jake Page

Special thanks to the Arts Council of York County and Gallery Up.

Save the Date: IAM Encounter 10

A group of artists, poets, and scholars at IAM Encounter. Photo by Cameron Bunce

Join us the first weekend of March as we travel to New York City for the annual International Arts Movement Encounter. This will be our fourth year participating, and we hope many will come along! With a well-considered lineup of speakers, workshops, performances and interactive spaces each year, the IAM Encounter is always a memorable and valuable experience.

From March 4-6, 2010, with spring budding in New York City, our movement will gather at the prestigious Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, a place that has housed weighty ideas, thinkers and movements for 150 years.

The Great Hall at Cooper Union

When not gathered there, we take to the streets. Carefully selected coffee shops, restaurants, galleries, museums, and clubs will serve as creative zones for engagement. In partnership with The Curator, Encounter 10 will move out into the cultural hub that is New York City to encounter one another and explore, discover and enjoy the innumerable cultural artifacts that ae already part of the world that ought to be. For one weekend, our movement will come together from the four corners of the world to reconnect with old friends and build new relationships that spur each of us to pursue our vocation more fully.

Hear more about Encounter 10 HERE.

NEWS: We are thankful and excited to now be listed among IAM's regional groups!

Red & Green: A Christmas Show

The Gettys Center in Rock Hill

Recently, we have been painting the lower level walls of a glorious 80-year old building on Main Street.  The Gettys Center opened in 1932 and was Rock Hill's courthouse and post office until the late 1980s, when it began being used for art studios.  We are excited to bring an unused part of this building into the light and open a new gallery space!

Our first show opens December 5, in conjunction with many other events & gallery openings during the ChristmasVille festival.

"Red & Green" is a themed show exhibiting new works from friends & local artists.

Opening is 6-9 on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009

Portrait Sessions

Our Monday night portrait drawing sessions are now every week at the Center for the Arts in Old Town Rock Hill.  

We have a clothed model for a two-hour pose. Sessions are open to experienced individuals who desire to work with a live model. Tables and chairs are provided. Please bring any other materials. No instruction will take place.

There is a $5 suggested contribution for the model.

Enter at the Cotton Alley Entrance to the Center for the Arts.

121 East Main Street Rock Hill, SC 29730

Call 864.923.5151 for more information